


Theirs & Ours

by PseudoFox



Series: The Evergreens [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Affection, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anthropomorphic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Furry, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rescue, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7290262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudoFox/pseuds/PseudoFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick Wilde attempts to spend an average day with the wonderful rabbits that have taken him in, enjoying the cozy little atmosphere. Yet the world that he came from still haunts his mind. He knows what can happen if his forbidden life spent with the bunnies gets found out by the wrong mammals. This story snippet is inspired by the 'Zistopia' universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Theirs & Ours

"Did you know that you really can tell, most of the time, if a song was first written on piano versus written on guitar? Or on something else?" Nick Wilde asked, shifting over to the middle of the long black bench. The three small rabbits gazing up at him shook their heads. One of them brushed her paws along the big yellow ribbons on her ears, concentrating as he eyes traced Nick's paws flowing across the keys. "It's interesting, actually. If you've got something with this jaunty, bouncy feel that's really heavy on the power chords—" The fox tapped a bunch of notes on the grand piano, leaning over and letting himself make a toothy grin. "Then, it just screams 'piano'. The 'baroque pop' kind of things that your dad listens to is a perfect example."

"That's _really_ cool," said the ribbon-marked rabbit, hopping onto the bench.

The bunnies watched intently as the fox played through another batch of notes. The moment of strong exertion that followed, Nick wiggling his head about and really slamming down on those keys, meant absolutely nothing to the collar around the fox's neck. Permanently modified into only showing a green light weeks and weeks ago— the Hopps families' tinkering coupled with Nick's own bravery working wonders— the fox barely remembered that he still had it. That, by itself, was a little miracle given the circumstances.

Nick stopped, making a big smile. The amount of teeth that he showed, not even bothering to think about it, would have been unthinkable not long ago. Yet none of the rabbits cared as they drank in his excitement. However, a call from outside of the room caused the little ones to turn tail and hop out.

Nick paused to gaze around the living room— looking at the various wooden keepsakes on the shelves as well as the many family pictures and delicately made knittings. He stepped around in a small circle for a moment, having gotten so used to things in the Hopps' houses that he barely felt cramped anymore, and tried to think. Recalling a promise to do some afternoon gardening, Nick made his way to the door, ducking carefully as his ears brushed against the wood. He paused to take in the bright spring sunshine.

Walter Hopps— who always joked about being somebody's 'first cousin, once removed' or 'third cousin, twice removed' as if no family could take him in entirely— waved from across a small green field. Nick gestured back, adjusting his eyes to the light, as he walked away from the little house. He picked up the hoe resting against the side of the worn picket fence leading to the garden. Nick headed over to the large rabbit— Walter stopping to brush something off of his baggy plaid shirt before turning to face the fox— and quietly dug down into a patch of ground.

"Any news lately?" Nick asked, surveying the plot of land.

"They're changing one of those signs that's a stone's throw up ahead," Walter replied, tilling the soil while not yet breaking a sweat.

"They should let me do it," Nick said, pulling his hoe over perpendicular where the rabbit stood, "probably be faster."

Both predator and prey worked the land for a while, their expressions showing off their cheerful spirits. "To be honest, Nick, the Johnsons' are still a bit wary of you popping up right in front of their garden. Still are, even if it's nothing but friendly greetings otherwise," Walter remarked. Seeing Nick pause, the fox making a little frown, the bunny simply smiled and threw a paw into the air. "Give them less than a week, Nick. I've heard their newest daughter blabbing in the air about wanting to grab and swing from your tail."

Time passed the way it usually did around that small patch of land. The section didn't really count as part of the farm, per se, but it functioned well as a half gardening and half planting project for that chunk of the Hopps family. The bunny and fox stopped to rest in the shade of a huge oak after not too long. Little drops of sweat had finally started to drip down both of their cheeks.

"I'll probably get going to pick up my wife in a few," Walter said, brushing a handkerchief upon his forehead, "but I'm counting on you to help with the last of these tomato seeds. Tricky things, you know, to get really growing on this kind of soil."

The fox simply nodded, letting himself zone out as he leaned against a moss-covered hunk of rocks. They had gotten a pretty solid amount of work done in a rather short amount of time. Nick thought back to various lessons that Walter had given him over the past few days ago, stressing the proper use of this tool versus that tool and the like. As much as Nick felt eager to help, he still knew that, after all, the Hopps extended family had more than enough foodstuffs squared away for months upon months.

"I might take her to those two new restaurants, the ones along West Second Street," Walter went on, looking over at a bunny walking out in the distance toward them, "I've heard some things." He paused. "Not good things, mind you, but things."

"Oh?" Nick smiled, idly brushing his neck.

"There's Chester's and there's Steve's. The line that's been going around is: 'You step into whichever outfit, grab yourself the lunch special, and then you find yourself walking out wishing you'd gone to the other one'." The rabbit raised an eyebrow and brought a paw upon the fox's shoulder.

Nick chuckled, nodding once again. It was bone dry humor, but he'd started to really enjoy that sort of thing, having hung out with so many from this particular crowd of small fluffy ones. Nick and Walter looked out as Juliet Hopps, the sunshine brightly coming down on that bunny's spotted pink and white dress, showed up beside them.

"Tray of lemonades for both of you," she said, the fox and the rabbit each taking one.

"Between you and me, if you're heading out and giving me plenty of time with the last bit of land, I'm probably going to relax at the swing over there," Nick remarked. He made his way over and took a seat on the rickety wood and metal contraption. Held up between two big weeping willows, it may have been as old as Nick himself. The fox made a friendly sign in the air over at Walter, who gestured back and smiled before heading out atop a cobblestone trail.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Juilet, hopping over and standing on a big patch of clovers beside the old swing. Nick looked out for a moment at the breeze lightly blowing across the rabbit's shoulders, a stray leaf brushing upon her fur. Her big blue eyes and wrinkled face showed a combination of knowing age and deep kindness— something that the fox felt glad to have seen in so many bunnies.

" _Sure_ ," Nick responded, patting down on the seat next to him. The rabbit popped up, the wood creaking slightly, and leaned back. They both simply gazed out at the countryside, idly swinging away for a while. Time passed on by, just as softly and calmly as it had that morning, and the breeze grew a bit stronger.

"This is nice," Juliet said after a while. Nick simply nodded. Before he knew it, the older rabbit had shifted herself up and rested against his right arm and shoulder. He said nothing back, feeling so comfortable at the swinging motion that he leaned over in her direction as well. Nearly falling asleep after only a few minutes, the both of them breathing easy, her paw rested down upon his leg. Before long, her head even slipped against his large chest. While he picked up those little moves, he didn't even notice them at all in a matter of seconds. The country breeze felt like a happy caress upon both of their bodies.

"This is _really_ nice," Nick whispered to himself. Yet an abrupt hit from behind snapped him out of that happy moment. A branch blown down by the wind against his back— a brushing of wood on fur that anywhere else he wouldn't have cared about at all— made him suddenly aware of his deactivated collar. He felt it around his neck for the first time in a long time. "Nice..." Horrible, depressing visions of the past that he'd tried to keep shoved far, _far_ in the back of his mind popped up like daises.

He relived seeing parents screaming at their young children to stay away from the big fences as freezing rain poured down all over them— angry mammals in body armor holding up their assault rifles on the other side. His senses brought back the first time that sharp bites of electricity had rippled across his body— the feeling of something like a mouth full of burning sandpaper, pain melting through his teeth, remaining as vivid as ever. Yet the snapshots flashing in front of his mind, a wave of dark sensations that hadn't hit him in such a long while, suddenly stopped.

Juliet, well asleep, dreamed something that caused her to shift her head to the side and rub against Nick's chest with her ears. The fox took in the soft touches as he drew in a deep breath. He visualized brushing his paws against his eyes, trying to just wipe off the memories away. He made himself think back to rabbit after rabbit that he'd snuggled with the past few days alone— happy paw-shakes, affectionate hugs, and everything else functioning as a mental blanket.

"And it shouldn't end." He felt his eyes squinting as if he might start crying. "It _won't_ end." He closed his eyes instead and tried to fall completely asleep. The Hopps families had made their choice, and that was that. He was theirs. Far more importantly, more powerfully to put into words, they were his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading!
> 
> I want to note that I've tweaked this a bit since originally uploading it. I love receiving feedback, and I'm glad for all of the support. The original version that was on this website is available here: http://pastebin.com/wUxuW48K
> 
> While this was designed as a one-shot thing, I'm considering expanding this out to include more material. A bunch of ideas have floated about in my head about this Nick's life. However, I've decided to mark this as being complete for now. We'll see how things go with the overall story. I'm going to shout out to Margaret Peterson Haddix's works for everyone to check out, what she's done providing a clear inspiration for me.


End file.
